Feeding a Pet Snake

Feeding a snake does not have to be a chore, even if it is your first pet snake. First and foremost, you should know what type of snake you have and do some research about the type of food they eat, how often they need to be fed, and the best time to feed them. Most snakes eat either mice, rats, crickets, or frogs.

Feeding snakes is not as scary as it may seem, especially if you exercise safety first. You will want to wear gloves and always use a pair of tongs to lower the food into the snake's cage. The reason for this is that it is possible you can be bitten by the live animal that you feed the snake or by the snake itself.

An important consideration in feeding snakes is that you should not feed them something that is larger than the biggest part of their body. You can feed your snake live prey such as frogs, fish, mice or rats. Feeding him live prey enables him to hunt his food before he eats it. If you feed your snake with a live animal, you can take him out in the cage and put him in a box where you feed him. This will give him a new environment to hunt for his food. However, if your snake will not eat the live prey, take it out of the cage because a live animal might turn the tables and could injure your snake.

If your snake does not eat the live rat, offer him a dead one. Frozen rodents are also available in most pet shops and you can even buy them online. If you feed a frozen rodent, thaw it out in warm water and let it cool in room temperature before giving it to your snake. Feeding a frozen rodent is less stressful as this reduces the risk of harm to you and your snake as well.

In feeding your snake, you need to monitor the days you feed it so you will know when to feed your snake the next time. You must take note that the typical feeding schedule for a snake tends to fall between once a week to three weeks. The most common would be about every two weeks.

One of the problems that you might encounter is that your snake won't eat the food. There are a lot of factors that contribute to the problem of not eating. It could be due to the condition of the environment, or if your snake is about ready to shed its skin. You should consider that the environment might need additional humidity since they are cold-blooded. If your snake is about ready to shed its skin, they typically don't eat during this time. Even if it is time for you to feed your snake, just wait until your snake has shed. If it still does not eat after several weeks has passed, you should have your snake checked by a veterinarian.

There you have it. It is not as difficult as you may have thought to feed a pet snake. Follow these tips and you should have a healthy and happy snake.